Another Reason to Love Clinique

If you read my earlier post concerning Clinique and weren't sold on the company just yet, perhaps this will change your mind.  Along with my bogo win yesterday, I took up Cliniques incredible offer on a 7 piece gift set with a $25 dollar purchase.  Since I've never actually bought a designated facial moisturizer for myself (I've only ever used my unscented body lotion) I bought myself a bottle of Cliniques latest skin care innovation, their Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion, which came right in at $25.  The gift bag which of course can be used as a cosmetics bag, contained Clinique lipstick, mascara, facial wash, eye makeup remover, liquid foundation, which the associate made sure to match to my skintone, and a beautiful shade of blush.  Well worth the initial $25 purchase? I think so!

It Seriously Pays to BOGO

Coupons in hand, my mother and I browsed through Goody's this evening looking for, what else, but deals and boy did we land a few! The store was having a bogo sale on their shoe selection, specifically buy one get one 50% off.  A khaki and pink colored pair of Polo Ralph Lauren loafers were the first pair to catch my eye.  I'd previously purchased a similar pair approximately a year ago. They're a tad rough looking now though. They might have lasted me longer had I not worn them frequently at my work-study position involving various types of construction.  The other purchase was a pair of electric blue and neon yellow trainer series Nikes. Coincidentally, I'd purchased a similar pair of Nikes a couple years ago, but as they were the only athletic shoes I would wear, frequent use in both indoor and outdoor exercise activities took its toll on them. I guess you could say I updated my shoe game today.  Besides having the bogo sale reduce the total for both shoes, of course coupons lent a hand in reducing our final total even more. The Nikes were originally priced at $65.00 and the use of our 40% off coupon made them $39.00. Then the loafers started out at the price of $60.00, were on sale for $34.99, factoring the 50% off from the bogo sale made them $17.49, and lastly another 40% off coupon set them at the purchasing price of  only $10.49! Our grand total for both pairs of shoes was $52.11, saving us $75.51!  It's always rewarding to know you saved more than you spent.

Pricing & Quality

Skilled shoppers are frequent shoppers.  Regular visits to your local malls and department stores can increase your knowledge of prices as well as quality and up your chances of spotting and catching a deal.  That being said, frequent shopping doesn't have to mean frequent purchasing.  Just simply looking through racks and examining prices will give you a better idea of what specific items are typically priced; What's the average price on jeans in this store, how much do the shoes in here usually go for? Prices vary from one store to another as does quality. While some of my favorite tops are from American Eagle, unless you're buying jeans from them, much of their merchandise is rather fragile and not long lasting. The prices are often greater than the quality of the items being purchased. When it comes to an equal price to quality ratio, I've found Banana Republic to be one of the best out there.  A black V-neck tee I purchased there sometime ago still appears just as new as the day I bought it along with several other purchases I've made from there. Becoming accustomed to prices in various stores can really help you out in the long run. You never want to over pay, or pay for something you could've gotten for less if you'd only waited for a sale or mark down. Be aware of quality as well. Good quality clothing and accessories can be inexpensive, you've just got to know where to look. Practice makes perfect. Get out there and check things out!!